Can grass cause soft poo? (graphic poo description - not for the faint hearted!)

[devonbelle]

I'm sorry to bring up this delicate subject again as some of us seem to be poo-obsessed lately! :red

Ben, for those of you who don't know, has been poorly on and off since his neutering op back in October last year, firstly with recurring abscesses and then with a tendency to soft, smelly poos.
The first time his tummy became unwell was following a course of Baytril and only improved with probiotics and lots of hard work. Since then this does seem to be a recurring problem so we take him off all soft and wet foods, put him on probiotics and it seems to improve.
Last week I thought we had things under control so gave him some lawn time, eating plenty of fresh, clean grass. We went away for the weekend, leaving Ben in the care of my mum and dad, just for 2 nights and came back last night to find his poo is again soft, squishy and smelly, and he seems to be having problems passing it. When I have tried to manouvere it (as described for impaction) it comes out soft and squashy with a sort of 'phut' noise! :x:x:x

Anyway, my questions are:

1. Can grass cause soft poo problems?
2. Does anyone think we need head off to the vets yet or try to treat at home?
3. What sort of treatment would you try?

Bless him, he's such an angel and has had so many problems, I'd like to get him well and healthy once and for all.

Thank you.

 

[lovelygirl]

if he has had too much and is not used to it then yes you have to gradually add grass into the diet and spring grass is especially rich!

 

[Pebble]

If it were a one-off, I would agree that it is the grass. However you say this is a recurring problem and it has certaily struck a chord with me.

I have had exactly the same problem with Beech since he was neutered last August. First the baytril caused stasis. Once we got him going again, he then developed a bladder infection and was given septrin. His poos have since been at best small and at worst exacty like Ben's - smelly and like caecotrophs (I too clean him out as for impaction and get the same noise.....and smell rolleyes). His gut is also very noisy (you can here it gurgling from the other side of the room) and there are times when he has belly pain around his hind legs and won;t allow you to get your hand anywhere near. It flares up when he has been eating greens (spinach, brassicas and too much lettuce or dandelions) so i tend not to feed him as much as the rest of the pigs and let him bulk up on timothy hay.

I have also not put any of them on the grass yet because as others have said, it is very rich this time of year and so I cut and hand feed measured quantities untill they get used to it.
.
When Beechie gets particularly bad I now give him Zantac (NB this is on the instruction of my exotics vet who swears by it - dissolve one 7.5mg tablet in 7.5ml water and feed 0.2- 0.5ml once daily ), I also give him 1ml of Fibreplex twice daily (probiotic and prebiotic) plus a day or two off the veggies. If he is in pain I also give him 0.2ml metacam, again for a couple of days. That gets his poos back to solid and less smelly - but they are always still half the size they were before he was neutered and much squidgier/clumpy.


As to what the cause is - I have absolutely no idea and nor does the vet. We did a faecal culture that was negative for everything except antibiotic resistant staph and strep - but as all my pigs were found to have them and their poos are normal, (although all my neutered pigs have much smaller, less sausage shaped poos than my un-neutered boars) a bacterial/parasite cause was ruled out.

Personally I think it is more likely that either it is
1. a chronic gut flora imbalance as a result of the considerable amount of antibiotics he has had previously, that is now triggered by too many greens and causes an overgrowth. (A yeast might be the cause and I am at the moment considering whether to ask the vet for intrafungol to see if that helps.) or
2. there is possibly some type of adhesion/scar tissue as a result of the neuter that gets inflamed and irritates his gut/bladder although we couldn;t see anything on ultrasound.

Maybe guineas too can get irritable bowel syndrome?

If you wish to consider using the zantac, I would advise you discuss this with your vet and get their agreement before you give any intended treatment - print out my post if necessary and take it with you...

Hope Ben gets back to normal soon -

xx

 

[clairelove]

hi i had the same problem after getting my ralphie neutered last year he dropped 500g in 5weeks i was so worried i went to 3 vets the last vets put him on some medication via injection then i was to give him some via mouth 3 times a day until his tummy-poos improved i forget what the medication was called begin with a M mallethead but it helps to re start the gut someone on here will know what its called this worked very well and he has now gained all of his weight in 4 mths ralphies problems started after abscesses following a neutering op and a long courses of baytril and other antibiotics all after then he had soft mushy poos and very smelly the vets said that his tummy had stopped working i also found that he was fluffing up at alot which indicates pain which he was given metacam if you dont have this calpol 0.2mls twice a day takes the pain away xx

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Is there perhaps a particular food still in the diet that leads to the soft poop? I'm just wondering if there's a dietary cause here first of all. What veggies does he normally have, and in particular what does he have in the 24 hours before he develops the soft poop problem?

Grass can lead to upset tummies - anything from soft poop to bloat - so giving them restricted grazing time for the first few sessions on the lawn is important. Similarly with dried-grasses like Readigrass or Just Grass; it's very rich on tummies that are not used to it.

 

[Clare75]

Hi, I'm new to the forum but trying to find some help for my 2yr old guinea pig Scamps who has had a problem with soft poos since he had to have two courses of Baytril and Intrafungal in March and April for a severe fungal infection. We've cut back on his diet (on advice from Vedra) and whilst this has improved things - it seems to reoccur when we try and introduce more of a variety of veg to his diet. We've also tried pro-c and infacol when his stomach is very gurgly but unfortunately altho these seem to ease the wind / gas he then seems to get softer poos. We're going back down to see Vedra next week so would be very grateful for anymore information on the use of Zantac to discuss with Vedra would be very very very much appreciated as we're desperate to help Scamps. Any help , advice or information much appreciated. Thank you so much.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! I am not a diet and medication expert, but I would recommend that you start your own thread for your problem, as the right people are much more likely to respond to it!

Your boy has obviously got a very delicate tummy. Do you know which veg and fruit exactly cause him upset? You may have to leave them out permanently.

 

[caviaporcellus]

My boar also had a poop problem for a few days after his op but not as serious as yours as it cleared up. During this period he did something really strange which I thought was gross at the time: he ate the sows poops. I wondered if eating the poops from a healthy pig was helpful to him and so I looked on the internet and found this article:
http://www.oginet.com/pgurney/analimpact.htm

Maybe your piggy could benefit from this? My piggy would not touch the probiotic given by the vet (biolapis? or something like that) as he does not like apple.

 

[Clare75]

Hi, thanks for your replies. Will look at starting another thread then. The main culprits veg wise are kale, cabbage / spring greens, broccoli so we're completely avoiding those items. He seems to be doing ok on carrots and we're trying cucumber, parsley, peppers and corn every so often to just see how his digestive system copes. We're going to discuss it fully with Vedra but I was just interested in the use of Zantac to possibly help with these symptoms. Otherwise he's being fed on meadow hay, Timothy hay, oat hay and orchard grass from oxbow and wagg crunch. Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Hi Clare, welcome to the forum.

It sounds like he is very sensitive to the brassica family of veg - cauliflower and brussels sprouts can be added to the list of what to avoid! Sugary foods can also upset piggie tums, so fruits in particular. Have you tried him on a diet of herbs and lettuces? I have a pig prone to bloat who does well on this diet, but go easy on the lettuces initially until you know if they affect his poops or not.

I look forward to hearing more about how Scamps gets on.

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Hi Clare, welcome to the forum.

It sounds like he is very sensitive to the brassica family of veg - cauliflower and brussels sprouts can be added to the list of what to avoid! Sugary foods can also upset piggie tums, so fruits in particular. Have you tried him on a diet of herbs and lettuces? I have a pig prone to bloat who does well on this diet, but go easy on the lettuces initially until you know if they affect his poops or not.

I look forward to hearing more about how Scamps gets on.

 

[toshchamp]

Quick question

I couldn't find the answer anywhere. If you are giving your piggies a round of anti-biotics then would it be smart to also give them some probiotics to help with any problems that could or may occur because of the antibiotics? I know some people have to do it that way. (I work in a pharmacy and it is very common)

 

[Laura-CCC4]

Yes toshchamp - especially with stronger antibiotics like Baytril which is renowned in some circles for upsetting some piggies tums. A probiotic given around 1-2 hours after the antibiotic may help to prevent or alleviate side-effects like soft poop.

In the US there is a good brand for animals called Benebac. I've used it (a friend sent some over for me) for my guineas and I find it very good, only a tiny amount needed.

 

[toshchamp]

Yes toshchamp - especially with stronger antibiotics like Baytril which is renowned in some circles for upsetting some piggies tums. A probiotic given around 1-2 hours after the antibiotic may help to prevent or alleviate side-effects like soft poop.

In the US there is a good brand for animals called Benebac. I've used it (a friend sent some over for me) for my guineas and I find it very good, only a tiny amount needed.

Do you happen to have a dosing suggestion for this? (Calculations of so many per kg/lb. If you do that would be helpful!

Thanks